Defend Michael Steele!

But the neocons, led by Bill Kristol, are demanding his resignation as national chairman of the Republican Party.

Why?

At a fundraising event Steele was caught on video in a “gaffe” (a technical term signifying that a politician has spoken the truth).

Steele suggested that Afghanistan is “a war of Obama’s choosing.” “Well if he’s such a student of history, has he not understood that, you know, that’s the one thing you don’t do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan,” Steele says of Obama. “Alright? Because everyone who has tried over a thousand years of history has failed. And there are reasons for that. There are other ways to engage in Afghanistan without committing more troops.” Steele suggests America should have a “background” role in the country, “sort of shaping the changes that were necessary in Afghanistan as opposed to directly engaging troops.”

Steele also described the situation around the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal as “very comical.”

Although Steele later backtracked a bit in an official statement, he should be commended for even talking about what is quickly becoming the Democrats’ war in such a frank manner. The Democratic National Committee quickly attacked Steele for wanting to “walk away from the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban without finishing the job.”

23 thoughts on “Defend Michael Steele!”

It's beautiful! I can't wait for my first opportunity in debating some right-wing hawk to preface my point with "As Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele pointed out…" Then start counting the seconds until some racial slur erupts from said wingnut's mouth.

The more likely hypothesis is that Obama is a Right Wing Corporate Capitalist sleeper, prepared for the coffee-colored bait and switch years ago.

Not that most Democrats are not, like all Republicans, Corporate Fascist and Imperialist. But Obama clearly prefers the more extreme Right version to the faux Progressive script.

It's a variation on the Colin Powell maneuver–the US Corporate Imperialists will very publicly disavow racism and Christian Fundamentalism as a national program, but hand in hand will march further down the road of world empire.

The debt credit serfs will be ignored, and when not ignorable, suppressed.

The US now has in effect has two classes: (1) the Financial Capitalists; (2) all the rest.

I am a liberal and I will NEVER EVER vote for a "Rethuglican." But with that being said, I think Mr. Steele does have a great point about President Obama's supposed interest in political history.

However, I would strongly disagree that Mr. Steele is being entirely honest with his premise. I still think he is deliberately trying to rewrite history to show that the Democrats ALONE are responsible for the failure of the Afghanistan OCCUPATION (the "war" ended a long time ago). There's such a blowback from the neocon right because thinking people (not the right-wing "sheeple") would be forced to re-examine how we got there in the first place. There were a lot of Rethuglican cheerleders then…and now. Afghanistan actually was a "minor distraction" for the Rethuglicans, because they were so hot to invade Iraq even on September 12th, 2001. They couldn't find a way to downplay the fact that their party was more obsessed with semen on a blue dress than with Al Qaeda being "determined to strike the United States"!!!
When the Congress was being run by the Rethuglicans, the Democrats knew that any vote against funding 2 "popular" occupations would mean losing their seat in 2004.

But Democrats in the Congress right now are a bunch of political cowards. They can see that the occupation of Afghanistan is failing right before their eyes, and a solid majority of Americans would not hold it against them if they decided to end the funding. But what would happen is that these same neocons will portray President Obama and the Democrats as being "soft" on terror, and the American voting public (who have the collective memories of fruit flies) will blindly buy into this premise. And voila… Rethuglican-controlled congress again.
I knew that Obama was no dove when I voted for him, and he made no secret about focusing primarily on Afghanistan once he became the president. But President Obama cannot afford to tell the REAL reason for being in Afghanistan: A lot of corporatists in the United States and Europe have an interest in the new pipeline being considered will run through a tough area (including IRAN), and we can't allow to have these two countries to have a government that is diametrically opposed to the West. He would not survive as president.

I think you should stop voting for-or-against labels. Get to know the words and actions of each of the candidates, regardless of party, and vote for the best. Just because someone claims to be a Democrat doesn't mean a damned thing since most Democrats have been voting for the wars since 2001. Just because someone claims to be a Republican doesn't mean he/she isn't a champion of peace and civil rights.

The Afghaniscam IS Obama's war now. Started by Bush, the war grinds on and on into America's 'long dark goodbye'. A servile and corrupt Congress rubber stamps the quagmire and loots our treasury for what is a fool's errand.
Alzheimer's America and no, it ain't pretty in the least. Bush started this mess and damn, that part got left out of Steele's statement. Afghaniscam, Iraqnam, and soon to be Iran-oh-mania. America never learns. "Official" America. It is a given that "official" America does NOT listen to 'we the people'.

"Well, it’s never been clear to me that through war we can bring peace, especially when we’re the invaders, we’re the ones using drones. We’re causing civilian deaths to many people who would otherwise be more friendly to us. We’re creating the terrorists. This is not being lost on most of the people in the country now. Our constituents now want us out of both Afghanistan and Iraq, and what we’re doing now is forming a way to discuss this with our president in an effort to make him more comfortable with doing what most people want him to do and what we thought he was going to do in the first place, namely, to clearly disengage from the military, increase the diplomatic activity, and bring in some help in terms of food supplies, aid, and positive build up of these countries and to make as many friends as we can over there rather than this ninth year of what has now become a debacle in every respect."

Why defend Steele? It is not like he was “brain-washed” and is now wising up. He knows and they all know (or should now know) that we can’t win in Afghanistan. They all,( DEMs, REPs, Independents) knew what caused 9-11. They all knew Iraq had nothing to do with 9-11. They all know that Israel’s racism and land theft had much to do with it compounded by America’s official policy of asskissing Israel and all it does. The generals know this All Congressmen know this. Even congenital morons like McCain know this.. Moose killers with lipstick know this. It is not ignorance that is destroying America; it is the calculating, scheming and flat-out lying that is. It is the craven, sold-out, cowardice that keeps this Afghanistan War going, In the end ignorance will not be an acceptable excuse, I guess, one can try to plead, “forgive me, I was just an asshole”.

Defend Michael Steele!??? No thanks. As every thinking American knows, the so-called "leaders" of both the Republican and Democratic parties are totally controlled by Wall Street. They are nothing more the Wall Street Crime Syndicate's economic hit men. The Republican and Democratic leadership are mere puppets and it is the billionaire elite of Wall Street who pulls their strings. 95% of the encumbents in the House and Senate are owned by the dons of Wall Street. Remember, remember, the elections this November. Throw the corrupted encumbent bums out of office.

Wo, are we movin' too slow?
Have you seen us,
Uncle Remus . . .
We look pretty sharp in these clothes (yes, we do)
Unless we get sprayed with a hose
It ain't bad in the day
If they squirt it your way
'Cept in the winter, when it's froze
An' it's hard if it hits
On yer nose…

Mr. Costa mentions Steele’s regimental ties. Not being a clothes horse myself, I assume that a regimental tie is supposed to tell everyone what army regiment you served with. Just like the old “school tie” used to announce an Eton or Oxford grad., etc.
Great idea, but to be realistic, our Congressmen and other political hacks should wear corporate ties to distinguish which corporate interests they serve. Even better, our political class should wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers with patches and embroidery from all of their sponsors. A nose ring would be ideal accessory for any lucky receipient of more than $100K pr year from any one interest. Knee pads like carpet layers wear should be the preferred accessory for those under AIPAC control. Also a little lapel pin of a dagger signifying their willingness to stab their own country in the back.

However my bestselling e-book has been Quicken for Dummies (Hungry Minds 1993-2005). But up to now Quicken for Dummies has bought one million copies in its quite a few editions. That last quantity I discussed, the a million copies of Quicken for Dummies, raises an fascinating point. As you think about e book writing opportunities, know you could make good money on a ebook that sells ten thousand copies. MF Clarke